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Posted on 08/19/2025 2:29:06 PM PDT by marcusmaximus
Ukraine’s most heavily fortified region has become the center-point for peace talks to end the war with Russian leader Vladimir Putin reportedly demanding that Kyiv cede the entire territory to Moscow.
But the Donestk oblast — which is smaller than Massachusetts and home to about 4 million people — has been at the center of some of the most brutal fighting of the war, and the Kremlin has not been able to take the entire region after more than three and a half years.
A source familiar with Friday’s meeting between Putin and President Trump described negotiations over the fate of Donetsk as “the ball game.”
“Every issue is an ancillary issue, except Donetsk,” the source previously told The Post.
-snip-
Despite its advancements in the frontlines, Russia has found it increasingly difficult to take all of Donetsk, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asserting that his forces still hold the strategic cities of Sloviansk and Kramators, which have served as a “fortress belt” guarding against Moscow’s fighters.
-snip-
Putin reportedly told Trump his forces could conquer Donetsk by October if Ukraine didn’t give up the land as part of a peace deal — but Kyiv and US observers point out that the Kremlin has failed to take it for more than a decade.
“Even if we’re being generous to the Russians and say they can maintain their current advance, which we know they can’t keep up and have been pushed back from… It would take about 475 days for Russia to take the entirety of Donetsk, that’s December 2026,” Barros said.
One American veteran serving in the Ukrainian Armed Services scoffed, “Donetsk by October? They’ve been saying that since February of ‘22.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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It’s all about Russian getting warm-water ports.
Isn’t that the area with rare earth minerals?
Logic says don’t give it to him.
If we have to enforce that peace agreement, no need to start them out in fortresses and us on the open plains.
Goad Ukr to fortify Donetsk then Rus advances toward Odessa?
Does that mean Ukraine can keep Zap and Kherson ?
“It’s all about Russian getting warm-water ports.”
The direction of Russian surface warships has been downward.
Z needs to cut a deal or war on, on his own.
I mean, c’mon, Z is snatching people off the street; next morning, they’re at the front w/ zero training. Or so I heard on a news channel.
Heavy industry, coal mining, steel.
I would guess not... which almost shuts out Ukraine from the Black Sea... Odesa would be their last port. But in Donetsk, Putin is apparently trying to win through negotiation what he’s been unable to take by force.
Also coal and iron. That is why it is Ukraine’s industrial center. That is also why there is a Russian population there. They are not the historical population. They came with industrialization in the 19th century, which is also why they are concentrated in the cities while the countryside is still mainly Ukrainian.
It’ll be given over, one way or another.
Or...maybe z can push Russia out.
Oh...wait...that’s right..they can’t
It would be cheaper for Russia to pay unhappy residents of the Ukrainian-held part of Donetsk to relocate.
To lose ~50,000 more soldiers to be able to safeguard ~20,000 unhappy residents would be stupid.
I read further in this report: there's a note stating "A Ukrainian military observer claimed on August 18 that Ukrainian forces liberated Zapodine and Dorozhnie.".
So things are still quite fluid in that region.
“The total [Russian iron ore] export volume is only 20 million mt, with exports to China reaching just around 8 million mt.”
https://news.metal.com/newscontent/103131596/current-status-of-russian-iron-ore
Russia doesn’t need to snatch Ukraine’s iron ore.
At least they are no longer fighting over Dumbass. Maybe this is progress.
>> If we have to enforce that peace agreement, no need to start them out in fortresses and us on the open plains.
In your fantasy there, who is “we” and “us”?
Russia has been working on that for centuries. Read about their naval expedition in the Russo-Japanese War. A Navy fronted by the Three Stooges would have been different. I think the only ship they sank was an ancient British fishing boat.
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